STRANGE STORIES

Dig a swimming pool!

A thief who stole a businessman's laptop is to dug him a new swimming pool, a court has ruled. The 19-year old escaped the standard minimum six-month suspended jail sentence for the theft after his victim, a 41 year-old insurance agent, suggested the unusual punishment.


Penitent Man

A man who went to confession shocked his confessor by handing him a bag full of weapons. The priest said, "I couldn't believe my eyes." The bag contained two guns, two hand grenades and 18 bullets. "I cannot say what the man confessed to," the priest added, "I am just happy that he wanted to return to the Church."


Snoring Buglar

A burglar who broke into a shop was arrested after falling asleep on a display bed. Police were called in after employee heard snoring in the bed, part of a display in the shop.

THE ORANGE ROSE

Orange Rose

the symbol of
passion
excitement
blazing energy
embodiment of desire
and enthusiasm
expression of fervent romance

CONTACT COUNTS

As human beings we go through life responding to conflicting needs--the need for human contact and the need for independence. These needs seem to pull us in different directions at almost every stage of life. In mother's presence, a child will explore unknown surroundings without requiring her involvement. But if she should leave the room, exploring ceases and anxiety sets in. The same kind of thing is true of adults in relationships. Each partner needs the love, protection, and security provided by the other, but he or she also needs independence, self-fulfillment, and self-esteem.

i love you....

Our ability to adjust in later life depend a great deal upon the degree to which the need for contact and the need for independence are fulfilled during childhood. Relationship established during a lifetime either between friends or between lovers are influenced by the primary bond between parent and child. The child of a loving, supportive family usually learns to trust others, to share with them, and to enjoy their companionship. Such a child also develops a strong regard for self and approaches life with a strong sense of security.

TRIVIA - BELLS ARE RINGING!

In medieval times, church bells were often consecrated to ward off evil spirits. Because thunderstorms were attributed to the work of demons, the bells would be rung in an attempt to stop the storms. Lots of bell ringers were killed by lightning!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - HYPOCRICY

"Few men speak humbly of humility,
chasely of chastity,
skeptically of skepticism."


Blaise Pascal

FROM FELON TO FAME!

O. Henry, the pseudonym

of William Sydney Porter (1862 - 1910),
was serving three years in prison for
embezzlement when he began
to write short stories.
Upon his release,
he gained national fame with
300 stories, most of which had a
surprise ending.

LIFE SAY, "NO TO DRUGS"

I lost a brother due to drugs. This wonderful, good-looking young man, with a signature bedimpled smile became a monster. He was 14 when he turned to alcohol and drugs. We did everything we could to unhook him of these horrible things. His behavior and moods changed, he was always out of control. We saw first hand what he turned into and the devastation that he brought onto the entire family. Until one day he realized the danger of drug use and told us that he was willing to undergo rehabilitation at DARE Rehab Center ran by Fr. Bob Garon. DARE did so many marvelous things to help him. Wonder of all wonders, he learned many skills in the rehab center. He stayed clean and sober for years, until one day he crossed paths with his old buddies again .... and that was it.

You could simply imagine how we hated his buddies that would give him drugs, and then we realized they were not forcing him, the problem was with him. He could not stand up for what he knew was right and say, "no I am not going to be a user anymore."

There are many individual and group problems related to the process of growing up. One of these problems is the misuse and abuse of drugs. Young adolescents may acquire various information about mind-altering drugs through mass media. The peer group, too, could be a major source of distorted information about drugs. It is a common knowledge that economic, social and psychological factors contribute to the increasing incidence of drug dependence.

Abused drugs generally have one thing in common: they cause changes in a person's mood or behavior. They can affect a person's perceptions, moods, behavior and skills. Some people abuse drugs because they think they can gain acceptance from their peers. Others abuse drugs in an attempt to have more friends and feel they belong to the group. Peer pressure also lead to drug abuse.

MOVING FORWARD

Making a decision to do something new usually involves giving up something else. That's what makes it hard--there's a loss to deal with as well as the uncertainty in the future. We resist change when the number of positive things in our lives is equal to the number of negative things. Comparing these positive and negatives objectively helps us to move forward.

OVERCOMING ENVY AND JEALOUSY

Do we rejoice in the good that others do, especially when they seem to outshine you? Do we get upset and jealous because someone else has taken our place or taken the spotlight away from us? Envy and jealousy, its counterpart, are sinful because they lead us to sorrow over what should make us rejoice. The reason we may be sad or feel discontent over another's good fortune or excellence is the fear of losing our own value and excellence or being replaced by a rival. Envy is contrary to love. Both the object of love and the object of envy is our neighbor's good, but by contrary movements, since love rejoices in our neighbor's good, while envy grieves over it.

How can we overcome envy and jealousy? With the love that God puts into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. This love seeks the highest good of our neighbor. Apostle Paul says that "love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right." If we ask the Lord to fill us with His purifying love, we may rejoice in the good of others, even in those who may cross us at times or cause us difficulty.

COMMUNE WITH NATURE

Learn to appreciate the beauty around you!

Poets tell us that the world is full of beautiful, wonderful things. We don't have to be a poet to realize that this is true. All we need is to rub sleep out of our eyes and look around with a keener, more observant gaze. Watch the clouds as they float lazily across the summer sky, study the outlines of trees, smell the freshness of the morning breeze, listen to the happy, lively chirping of the birds, hear the buzzing of the busy bees hopping from one fragrant blooms to another, feel the gentle, warmth of the early morning sun. Commune with nature!

We don't have to be a poet to know that the world is full of beauty.

TRIVIA - RED TAPE

Did you know that the phrase, "red tape," the rigid application of regulations and routine, resulting in delay in getting business done, got its name from the color of the tape that was commonly used to tie official papers.

The term occurs as early as 1658.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - FAITH

"I would rather live my life
as if there is a God, and die to find there isn't,
than live my life as if there isn't,
and die to find out there is."

Bishop T. D. Jakes

BRISK WALKING OR JOGGING?

The weather is getting cooler everyday. Al-Khobar corniche is now always crowded with joggers, brisk walkers, bikers, and picnickers; a familiar sight in the morning and evening time.

Brisk walking and running are exercises very popular among expats here in the Eastern Province, exercises which help in balancing a high-fat diet. As far as I know, both help develop extra routes of circulation for blood to flow through, while a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet tends to close normal routes off.


According to Michio Kushi, author of the book, The Microbiotic Way, jogging increases circulatory capacity and may reduce the risks associated with eating the modern diet. Unfortunately, jogging has some drawbacks. While for a period of time it may be a balancing form of exercise for the heart and circulation, in the short, it tends to unevenly stress the heart and other body parts and systems. Although, some people can enjoy jogging or running, they are frequently halted by back problems, bone and joint disorders, kidney damage due to the shock of pounding up and down while running.

In the words of Thomas Jefferson, "the sovereign invigorator of the body is exercise, and of all the exercises, walking is the best." The rewards of just plain walking equal those that can be obtained from any other exercise, with half the risk of injury or exhaustion.

MAY I PAWN MY DAUGHTER?

Strange News from Abroad

The rough economy meant good business for pawnshops. They are more than willing to help many struggling people to make both ends meet. We can pawn just anything of value, but to pawn a daughter is a different story.


A father went to the police and reported that her daughter was missing. Police searched for the girl for three days and then became suspicious after the father failed to follow up on the case. Their suspicions increased when the girl's mother told them that the disappearance coincided with the departure of a guest, who stayed with them for two days.

A thorough investigation revealed that the father pawned his daughter to his creditor as a form of guarantee that he would repay the debt.

What a way to make some quick cash, ha!

FRUSTRATION

How can we muster frustration? Study shows that people who easily get frustrated are more likely to react in a prejudiced way than people who are not easily frustrated. Low tolerance for frustration is only one of the personality variables that sometimes accompany prejudice. People with low self esteem are more likely to be prejudiced than people who have high respect for themselves. Individuals who lack self-esteem look for others who can be seen as more unworthy than they themselves are. Guilt feelings about behavior are also projected onto people whose own behavior is what the prejudiced people see as bad about themselves, but cannot admit.

NOBLE VIRTUES, NOBLE TASKS!

We should develop the noble virtues of patience, fortitude, and perseverance. If at first we don't succeed, keep trying. It is a good thing never to be discouraged, to rise stronger after each fall. Every end is a beginning. It all depends upon how we look at it. We will not succeed if we concentrate on our failures. But if we see beyond our failures and reach our hands towards the success that lies in the future, that success will be ours.

Always remember, there is no such thing as "too late."
Many open doors and choices await us.

THE RED, RED ROSE

Scotland's most famous poet, Robert Burns once wrote that his love was like "a red, red rose." He compared the pretty girl he loved to a red, red rose. He probably meant that the pretty girl's complexion is an attractive and healthy looking as a beautiful rose and the texture of her skin is as velvety and smooth as the petals of a rose. The way she stands is as straight and regal as the rose held upright by its straight firm stem. The subtle fragrant of the rose may correspond to the fragrance of the girl, the way she attracts people is like the way beautiful rose attracts those who see it.

A Red, Red Rose

Oh my luve is like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June:
Oh my luve is like the melodie,
That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun;
And I will luve thee still, my dear
While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only luve!
And fare thee weel a while!
And I will come again, my luve
Tho' it were ten thousand mile!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - SOLITUDE

"Children love to be alone
because alone is where they
know themselves, and where they dream."


Roger Rosenblatt

JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!

Just as we need psychological space, we also need to surround ourselves with a certain amount of physical space.

For whatever reason, we want control over who has access to us and when. How would you feel if you discovered someone had been eavesdropping on your telephone conversations? Or if someone had been opening your mail? Or giving out confidential information about you? Privacy is much more than physical isolation, a psychological state. It is our freedom to determine "when, how, and to what extent information about yourself is communicated to others," according to a renown psychologist, who believes that there many reasons why people seek privacy. Privacy provides a sense of individuality and independence. You are your own person making your own conscious choices.

COLDS AND FLU

It's wintertime, season of colds and flu.
A friend said, I should get a flu shot. Do I need one?

They say, children get the most colds because they lack the built-up resistance to infection, in contrast with adults who suffer less because they have built-up a natural immunity. A study of a common cold disclosed that the incidence of colds was greater among the better-educated.

There is no proven or sure cure for colds and flu but time. However, there are many available over-the-counter medications to relieve the symptoms.

A MAGICAL EXPERIENCE

Falling in love with love
is falling for make believe,
Falling in love with love is playing the fool!

Falling in love is a magical experience, yet it lasts only a short time. Often it burns out, leaving the once love-struck person wondering how and why it all happened. If the love prospers, love changes from a passionate love to a compassionate love. Like, loving, and sexual relationships form the human connection that expands the boundaries of self. The person who does not reach out for the hand of another, or whose extended hand is not grasped by another, is cut adrift. The isolated individual may become lonely or depressed. But the person whose life includes love and intimacy is a person whose life is enriched.

TRIVIA - FLATHEAD

Children in the Chinook Indian tribe, if they were connected to the chief or royalty in the chief blood, were strapped between two boards from head to toe, until they were about a year old, so they would have fashionably flat skulls.

DO YOU FEEL THE PAIN?

Surely know one would wish that anyone should suffer pain of any kind. Much less would want to inflict it with malice on anybody. But when it comes, both as sign of our humanity and as a signal warning us of our illusions, pain has to be welcomed. When it comes, it does not leave us alone. It claims for our attention and taxes our very person. But if all the time it was there, we were patient, attentive and generous. It purifies us and makes us better persons. Any person who knows how to suffer pain emerges from the suffering purified, even-tempered and a thousand times more compassionate.

DID YOU SEE ME? Joke Only!!!

A man with a gun goes into a bank and demands their money. Once he is given the money, he turns to a customer and asks, "Did you see me rob this bank?"

The man replied, "Yes Sir, I did." The robber then shot him in the temple, killing him instantly.

He then turned to a couple standing next to him and asked the man, "Did you see me rob this bank?"

The man replied, "No Sir, I didn't, but my wife did."

SWEET AND SOUR MARRIAGE

Strange News from Abroad

A marriage ended during the honeymoon when a man got lost his way around; couldn't contact his new wife to get directions back; and decided the only recourse was to leave without her, go home and take a nap. This, of course, angered the father-in-law who put an end to such nonsense. The couple had rented a furnished apartment in the city. The man decided to take a taxi to a restaurant to bring food his his beloved. But the cab driver, who was paid for a round trip, ditched his fare. Lost and unsure how to get back to the rented apartment--and unable to contact his wife because he didn't own a mobile phone--the man eventually decided to take a bus back home without her. For her part, the bride waited and waited and finally called her father. The father wen to the house of man only to find napping! Outraged, the father sent his sons to pick up his daughter and demanded an immediate divorce. The man, facing immense family pressure from both sides, acquiesced.

Next time he gets married and honeymoons in unfamiliar territory, he might consider ordering food for delivery.

Goodbye marital bliss uggghhh!!!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - PEACE

If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.

Lao Tzu

A SENSE OF PEACE

Learning how to let go when solutions to problems aren't immediately apparent can go a long way toward reducing worry and anxiety in life. Peace of mind is what develops in the absence of such anxiety, a result of feeling a deep, abiding sense of security and safety.

There is much security and control through a complete understanding that there is no problem or difficulty that cannot be resolved through the help of God. The more we put our trust in Him, the easier it becomes to deal without fear or worry with the inevitable challenges life brings.

MYTH - FACT

Myth

Cows lie down when it's about to rain.
An old country myth claims that a field
filled with cows lying on the ground is a sure
sign of imminent rain.

Fact

But once again, there is no truth to this whatsoever. Cows more often lie down when they are chewing their cud (regurgitated lumps of previously eaten grass). If they live in place where rain is frequent, there are bound to be times when their prone position coincides with precipitation. Next thing you know there's an old wives' tale about their meteorological prowess.



It's going to rain... mooo!!!

HUMILITY IN ACTION

Saying I don't know is an act of humility. It makes us more in touch with reality and truth. We are more believable and approachable. When we say, I don't know, we acknowledge and accept vulnerabilities. This is what you call humility in action.

If we are self-centered and arrogant, we cannot work directly to develop a humble heart. Instead, we work indirectly toward humility against the objective measure of a pure heart. A humble unassuming person immediately puts us at ease. We can feel more relax and be ourselves in their presence, a comfort zone, no fear because the heart of the humble knows love. It is not a sign of weakness or being passive. Rather, it gives us the courage and strength of accepting and understanding the purpose of being in this world, as a part of humanity, and a part of life.

Practicing humility is not changing our personality, but it helps put an end to the practice of setting ourselves above others. If we really wish to be able to love, then we must empty our heart in humility.

SAY IT WITH MUSIC

Music, an instrument of love and peace!

From the beginning of time, music has been important in our lives. It played an important role in our day-to-day living. The chirping of the birds, cooing of the turtledoves, rustling of the leaves, rippling water, freshness of the morning breeze. Wherever we go, schools, churches, malls, even in public vehicles, we feel and hear music. It is everywhere because the world is filled with sound and music is sound.

Say it with a beautiful song....

Music is a language lovers understand,
Melody and romance wander hand in hand;
Cupid never fails assisted by a band,
So if you have something sweet to tell her:

Say it with music, beautiful music,
Somehow they'd rather be kissed,
To the strains of Chopin or Liszt.

A melody mellow played on a cello,
Helps Mister Cupid along,
So say it with a beautiful song.

Say it with a beautiful song,
Say it with a beautiful song,
Say it with a beautiful song!

Irving Berlin

BELIEVE ME IF ALL THOSE ENDEARING YOUNG CHARMS - THOMAS MOORE

BELIEVE ME IF ALL THOSE
ENDEARING YOUNG CHARMS

Believe me, if all those
endearing young charms,
Which I gaze on so fondly today,
Were to change by tomorrow,
And fleet in my arms,
Like fairy-gifts fading away,
Though would'st still be adored,
As this moment thou art,
Let thy loveliness fade as it will,
And around the dear ruin
each wish of my heart
Would entwine itself verdantly still.

It is not while beauty
And youth are thine own,
And thy cheeks unprofaned by a tear,
That the fervor and faith
of a soul can be known,
To which time will but make thee more dear!
No, the heart that has truly loved
never forgets,
But as truly loves on to the close,
As the sunflower turns
on her god when he sets
The same look which she turned
when he rose!

by
Sir Thomas Moore

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - ADVERSITY

The virtue of prosperity is temperance;
the virtue of adversity is fortitude,
which in morals is the heroical virtue.

Francis Bacon

A PASSAGE TO ETERNAL LIFE

Death is always painful when it comes because it means that a person is cut off from the world of the living. It means that between the dead and the living there comes a distance much farther than the farthest point on this earth. When a person lives, once can always hope he will come back home sooner or later, but when a person is dead, one can only hope to join him someday.

There is nothing final in death, which no one ever likes. When death comes, it's all over for the person this side of life. No matter how miserable one's life my have been, death appears always terrifying. Life is just too beautiful to end in death. But faith teaches us that death is the necessary passage to eternal life. Jesus said, "Unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit." (John 12:24)

In loving memory of our ever
sweet and delicate mother of all!